Ocean Eyes
by Sorceress Fantasia
Summary: After a wayward merboy, Cloud, saves a drowning high school student by the name of Leon, he revives the human at the cost of losing the ability to return to the ocean palace. So, what’s a merboy to do? Based on an old HK movie. LxC, RxS
1. Chapter 1

Title: Ocean eyes part 1

Author: Sorceress Fantasia

Pairings: LxC, RxS, some other minor ones

Warnings: AU, romance, sap, humour, OOC-ness

Disclaimer: As much as I would love to lay claim to Cloud, I'm kinda scared of Leon's gunblade. So well, I don't own Kingdom Hearts and its character, and neither do I own the various Final Fantasies and their characters. I don't own the movie that this fic is adapted from.

Note: This fic is based on a mid-nineties HK movie named _'Mermaid got Married'_ which never quite left my mind. I've wanted to write a fic based on that movie since years ago, but could never get down to it. This time, the muses aren't letting go and it's making me lose sleep. I've no choice; Cloud and Leon demanded to have this fic written in their honour. Anyway, this fic uses a few characters and places from Disney's 'My Little Mermaid', but the storyline is not the same. Chapter last revised 25 June 07.

Summary: After a wayward merboy, Cloud, saves a drowning high school student by the name of Leon, he revives the human at the cost of losing the ability to return to the ocean palace. So, what's a merboy to do? Based on an old HK movie.

* * *

"This is not a kiss."

But Cloud found it almost impossible to convince himself that it wasn't a kiss when his gaze fell upon the man he had just rescued from a watery grave. Not when the man, lying still and unconscious on the beach, still looked so handsome and kissable despite being near death. And he was going to die if Cloud didn't do something soon.

Cloud cupped the other man's cheek, gently stroking the stray strands of brown hair that had gotten into his face. He was devastatingly handsome even with the scar on his face, and Cloud could feel his heart pounding desperately as his face burned up.

It wouldn't be a kiss. No, technically it wouldn't be. He was just trying to save the other man, to breathe some fresh air into him. So it would just be a chaste touching of their lips. Nothing more than that. If only he could convince his heart to stop pounding so hard.

Hesitantly, Cloud lowered his lips, but stopped again when their lips were just breaths apart.

"This is not a kiss," he whispered to himself once more before pressing their lips together.

* * *

_Three days ago… _

"Cloud, slow down! I can't keep up!"

A blond merboy blinked, and twisted his body around, stopping in his swim. He winced when he noticed his friend trailing behind in the bubbles he had left behind, trying desperately to slapping her green tail down on the water harder.

When she finally caught up to him, she had to lean against him as she tried to catch her breath. Almost looking as though she were in pain, she raised a hand to her bosom, willing her heart to calm down after the vigorous swim. Then, she glared at him.

"Could you just slow down? You were swimming like a whole horde of sharks were on your tail!" –she pouted- "And for a moment there, I thought you were going to leave me alone in the open ocean."

Cloud smiled sheepishly, reaching out to ruffle her red hair and pat her head. She batted his hand away indignantly, still pouting.

"Sorry Ariel… I just… got too excited, I guess. It's been a while since I got to get out here," he sighed. Slowly, he started to swim in lazy circles, twisting his body to roll around in the water, loving the the way the currents caressed him and ran through his hair. It felt different from the water in Atlantica. There, everything felt stiff and boring. Even the water felt stagnant and dead. Probably because of all those guards who swam around, patrolling the area day in and day out, he mused.

Atlantica was where all the merpeople lived, and also where the great ocean palace, home to King Triton and his family, was located. It was an immensely beautiful place actually, with coral reefs aplenty and colourful schools of fishes that swam here and there, meandering around the city's pathways and huge shells that served as houses for the merpeople. And the people who lived there were beautiful too. Cloud loved it when everyone just wandered out of their houses during the festive seasons, all dressed up in an assortment of beautiful shells and pearls and their tails sparkling clean.

But despite its beauty, Atlantica was also the most boring place in the ocean. The merpeople had a small population, so everyone pretty much knew everyone else. Even the king had a good knowledge of who was who, enough for him to ask his guards about the latest addition to so-and-so family who lived about five pathways away from the palace. To make things worse, merpeople tended to live in close proximity to their neighbours for protection, so there wasn't much privacy to speak of. The most one could have for a door was a giant fan shell, but even that didn't keep out the noises. Neither did it keep noises in, as Cloud had found out when his cousins threatened to break him door down one night for being too loud. Furthermore, guards were stationed everywhere to keep out dangerous creatures and predators like sharks, so life in Atlantica felt like it was under constant martial law: regimented and somewhat oppressed, even.

The only interesting thing that had happened in the recent months, apart from the occasional concert held within the palace, was when a giant school of jellyfish had drifted their way, and the head guard had found out about it too late to change their course. Cloud snickered as he remembered a few of his friends covered in welts and swimming in frenzied moves to get to the healer.

Ariel cocked her head to the side.

"What are you laughing about?"

"You remember the time when the jellyfish came and how everyone did the funniest things to keep them away? Zack even covered himself in grounded oyster pearl dust," Cloud answered, chuckling harder when he recalled how his friend, Zack, ended up with a dozen stings before turning tail and swimming away to safety. He was being silly, really; how could grounded oyster pearl dust repel jellyfish? That was just an old wives' tale, something Zack had to learn the hard way.

The mermaid giggled at the memory. It was hard not to, when the image of the black-haired merboy strutting almost arrogantly towards the jellyfish came to her mind. His poor navy-blue tail had gotten swollen after that, and he had complained loudly about how upset the mermaids were going to be when they discovered their number one heartthrob's tail had gotten hurt. Their other friend, Sephiroth, had promptly replied that his silver tail, the single most alluring tail in the entire kingdom, was completely fine.

Zack and Sephiroth. You couldn't find a closer pair of friends in the entire ocean, but even that didn't stop them from arguing who was more handsome and popular with the mermaids.

Personally, Ariel thought Cloud looked just as good as either of them, or perhaps even better. Most people said that Cloud's tail was the colour of the sea, and it was a colour so common amongst the merpeople that no one really took notice of it. But Ariel had snuck up to the human world once despite the many rules against it, and she had been immediately mesmerized by the vast and open sky above her. The colour… it was Cloud's tail. Cloud's tail colour wasn't common at all; it had a shiny glow to it, much like how the sky was lit up by the sun. And Ariel thought it was the most beautiful colour.

What was even better, Cloud's eyes were the exact same shade too, except that the glow was much more obvious. Coupled with his wild, untamable golden hair that was as stunning as the sun, Cloud seemed to embody the world above the deep waters.

Maybe that was why the merboy was so curious about that world, much like herself. They could spend hours in a sunken human ship, just rummaging through the artifacts and hazarding a guess what it was supposed to be used for, even though they had already seen a good number of those in their human classes in school. Their explorations were against merpeople law, of course; it was a rule enforced to keep the secrets of their existence away from human knowledge. In the name of science or whatever other excuses they could think of, humans were cruel enough to subject any merpeople to a life of torture, poking and prodding the potential wealth of knowledge as though the merpeople were mere objects for them to experiment on. And compared to what they could do in those scenarios, death by dissection seemed to pale in comparison, though it was still not anything any good merpeople would wish upon their worst enemies. For this reason alone, educators felt it was necessary to teach the young merpeople how the average human lived, just so it would fulfill their curiosity and let them know the dangers and cruelty of humans.

Ariel shuddered as a cold draft of water hit her, though it wasn't the only reason for the sudden chilliness inside her.

"Hey Cloud. I think we should head back home already. We've been out for hours already, and if daddy finds out about this, he's going to ground us forever. Not to mention Zack and Sephiroth. Sometimes, I think those two are just as bad as daddy."

The merboy sighed, but he nodded. King Triton was not going to be a happy camper if he found out that his youngest daughter and nephew had snuck out of Atlantica again. And then there was still Zack and Sephiroth. Those two had always had those big brother mentalities, always trying to look out for him and Ariel and making sure they didn't get into trouble. And ever since joining the royal guards some time ago, those protective streaks had gotten a lot meaner and it was getting to the point that Cloud thought his dead mother were possessing them. Luckily, those two had been assigned to guard duty today so he took the opportunity to sneak out with Ariel.

As the young mermaid turned tail and swam towards home, Cloud could not help but gaze upwards, where he knew the human world was. He wondered, how was the world like?

* * *

Lunch period at Destiny High School was always a noisy and much anticipated affair, and today it was no different. The noisiest bunch of students for the day, however, wasn't bouncing around in the cafeteria. They were sitting at their usual spot, under a huge tree in the school gardens, eating their food and talking. One of them in particular, the eldest, was resisting the urge to just get up and leave.

Sometimes, Leon wondered why he kept his friends around. Granted, they were mostly Riku's friends, but they all seemed to think he needed someone around him since he did not have many personal friends, so they hung out around him and thus became his friends as well. But sometimes, like now, Leon wondered if was his younger brother's evil scheme to gather more 'ammunition' to bug him and give him a gigantic headache.

When he noticed Riku peering his way with an amused grin, he had a sinking feeling he was right.

And right now, they were all trying to, as Selphie put it, 'show him some concern'. The sophomore was giving him advice about his love life, gesticulating so wildly that the hotdog that she was holding was starting to resemble some sort of spear. Apparently, the others shared his sentiments, and were keeping a safe distance away from the girl. Even Tidus, her boyfriend, was backing away slowly.

"Seriously Leon, just because you broke up with Seifer a couple of days ago, it doesn't mean that you should mope. I /always/ knew that Seifer wasn't meant for you; he's much too dominant, and you're dominant too. It's a big personality clash, you know? What you need, Leon, is someone who is submissive, cute, sweet-" she rambled, seemingly caught up in her own words.

"And knows how to take care of you 'cause you don't do it enough yourself," Yuffie, another sophomore, added. She merely stuck out her tongue when Leon gave her his evil glare.

Tidus raised his hand.

"I second that."

Kairi and Wakka took that as their cue to agree.

"Me too!"

"Count me in, yeah?"

Leon was starting to get annoyed, and then he noticed Aeris starting to slowly raise her hand, looking at him almost sheepishly.

"I think so too."

"Not you too, Aeris!" Leon groaned harshly, slapping his forehead. He had always thought that the girl was more mature and supportive of him than the rest of their friends, for she wasn't just his classmate (they were the only seniors in the group) but also one of his closest friends. However, Aeris had just proven him wrong by joining in on something as silly as voting for what they thought he needed in his love life. This whole thing was getting more ridiculous by the passing second.

"But Leon, it's true!"

He was about to bark at the person who had added that last comment when he noticed it was Sora, and the young boy was looking at him with those damned puppy eyes and characteristic pout. It took some effort, but Leon managed to stop his scathing comment from spilling. If he upset Sora, Riku would no doubt bite his head off; his younger brother always had a mean protective streak when it came to his little boyfriend. But seriously, Leon didn't have the heart to upset Sora either. They had grown up together, ever since the day Leon's family had moved into the apartment opposite to the Utadas and young Sora Utada had poked his head out of the door to greet his new neighbours. And somehow, through the years, Sora had managed to crack through his defenses and find a place in his heart. He was like another younger brother, one who was much more adorable and obedient than Riku, that blasted rascal.

Leon sighed, and he wondered when lunch period would be over so he could get away.

"I know!" Kairi chirped suddenly, clapping her hands. "Let's go to my uncle's fish farm this weekend! To celebrate Leon's new single status, and also to cheer him up!"

He rolled his eyes. There was no need to 'cheer him up' because he wasn't even upset at the breakup; like Selphie said, although he hated to agree, it was only a matter of time before things would turn sour between him and Seifer. He had just been… bored, and wanted companionship at that time. Still, Leon did not bother to correct Kairi on that and did not protest, for he was well aware that he would just be ignored.

Leon sighed inwardly again as the group cheered at the suggestion.

* * *

When dinner time rolled by, there was nothing Leon wanted more than sleep the rest of the night away, food be damned. He was definitely not looking forward to the trip to the fish farm this weekend, something his friends had decided on without asking for his opinion. And it wasn't likely that he could just skip out on it, because Riku had no doubt been given the task of dragging him out of bed that morning if necessary. If that failed, Riku would just have to walk across the corridor, get Sora over, and ask Sora to put on his best puppy eyes.

Leon scowled. He was not leaving his room tonight. He was going to forget everything and sleep. Yeah, that sounded good. Sleep it was then. Riku could handle his dinner himself. After all, the Loires were taught –or maybe 'forced to be' would be much more appropriate- to be independent since their childhood days, simply because their parents were constant globetrotters who seemed to think nothing of leaving their children at home while they were at work halfway across the world. Worse come to worst, Riku could eat burnt macaroni and cheese. It was nothing he couldn't stomach.

Just then, the silver-haired boy popped into his room.

"Hey Leon, we gotta get over to Sora's house for dinner tonight, remember? It's Wednesday!"

Riku raised an eyebrow when Leon punched his pillow, and he quickly ushered Sora, who had just bounced over enthusiastically, into the living room. Just in time too; Sora had been trying to tell them what his mum had prepared for dinner, and moments after Riku guided him away from Leon's door, a pillow came flying out and hit the wall with a dull thud.

Sora frowned.

" Leon's not in a good mood today, is he? What's he upset about? Surely it's not Seifer," he said, glancing up at his boyfriend.

"Of course not," Riku replied, but he was inwardly surprised that Sora was insightful enough to know that his brother wasn't upset about his recent breakup. His boyfriend had always been the innocent and even naïve one of the lot. " Leon's just almost always in a bad mood."

And that was true. It seemed that not a lot of things could make Leon smile, which was probably a result of their parents' constant absence, since it meant that Leon was made to take care of everything at home. If Riku were the one made to shoulder that burden, he reckoned he would be just as moody because seriously, there was nothing happy or cheerful about taking care of the bills and filling up forms. At that thought, Riku frowned. When was the last time their parents had been home, anyway? Four, five months? And they probably jetted off again for another job commitment after spending one or two measly days at home.

They definitely personified irresponsibility.

" Leon just needs to have a good relationship," Sora said sagely. "Like us!"

Riku beamed, ruffling Sora's wild brown hair.

"Right, just like us."

Sora gave him a wide smile before pouncing onto the sofa, much like a hyperactive child. Chuckling, he flipped himself around, lounging lazily and gazing at Riku intently.

"You know, maybe we should set him up with someone," he said, shifting himself to let Riku sit down on the sofa as well. "Someone we know who fits what Leon needs in a boyfriend. Someone like… erm… someone like…"

"Like?"

"Erm… maybe my cousin? We'll have to see though. I'm not sure what he's like 'cause I haven't seen him in years. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever met him… Mum did once, but that was when he was still in the crib. But he's going to be fun. I just know it! It's in our blood!" Sora declared proudly, almost bouncing in his seat.

Riku did a double-take.

"Wait, cousin? What cousin? You have a cousin?"

"Of course! Well, we only just found out about him actually, 'cause mum got into this huge argument with her brother and they kinda haven't talked to each other in ages. You see, my uncle didn't want her to marry dad. He thought dad wasn't good enough," –he pouted- "But my uncle and aunt died in a car accident last month, so my cousin's coming to stay with us 'cause we're his closest kin now, and mum doesn't want him to live alone. We'll have to cheer him up and make his parent's death easier on him, you know? And mum's gonna transfer him to Destiny High, so we can introduce him to the gang! And then we'll bring him around town and everywhere, help him get settled and everything! Oh, and I want to take him to Tifa's restaurant! It'll be a blast! He's bound to love the food there!"

It took a moment for the message to sink into Riku's mind, courtesy of Sora's tendency to blabber on when he got excited. And Riku could easily see why that was: Sora hated being an only child, and from the look of things, it seemed that this cousin of his was going to be staying with him for quite a while. Even Leon and he wasn't enough to satisfy Sora's need for a sibling. They were his friends, neighbours, and boyfriend in Riku's case, but never quite siblings.

So he did the only thing he could: ruffle Sora's hair even more.

"That's good. Yeah, we'll make him feel welcomed. What's his name? How old is he?"

Sora cuddled closer, leaning into his boyfriend's hand. While he usually felt indignant when people tried to pat him on his head or play with his hair (he was seventeen, for god's sake!), he never really minded Riku doing it. Riku had a very special way of doing it that it made Sora feel like he wanted to purr.

"His name is Kumo, and he's eighteen, just like Leon."

Riku grinned.

"Kumo, as in the cloud in the sky? Man, your family loves naming kids after things in nature, don't they? You're the sky, and he's the cloud?" At Sora's eager nodding, his grin widened. "So when's he coming?"

"Mum said next week, but he might be over sooner to settle in. We wanted to drive over to Hollow Bastion –erm, that's where he is- to get him, but he said he'll come over himself. Anyway, you'll have to help us keep a look out, okay?"

"Sure. What does he look like?"

"No idea," Sora replied with a shrug and swinging his feet. He was a restless person by nature, and could never sit still for long. "Like I said, we just found out about him. But mum sent him a photo of my family for identification. So at least, he'll know what /we/ look like. So if someone's around the area, looking lost and holding our photo, you'll know it's him," -his eyes peered to the clock on the wall- "By the way, it's dinner time."

And before Riku could stop him, Sora was already yelling at the approximate direction of Leon's room.

" LEON! IT'S DINNER TIME! COME ON OUT!"

Riku winced when another pillow flew out of the room and slammed into the wall.

* * *

Saturday rolled around far too soon for Leon's tastes, and he could only resign himself to whatever his friends were putting him through and hope for it to end quickly. But from what he had tasted of the combined forces of Selphie, Yuffie and Kairi, the chances of that happening were slim to none. He sighed inwardly.

"Isn't it great? The sun is shining brightly in the sky, and we're headed for the sea!" Selphie yelled.

"Well technically, we are headed for a fish farm that's beside the sea…" Riku muttered, shrugging when the girl ignored him.

"Do you guys think we'll get to feed the fishes?" she yelled again, bouncing in her seat in the back row and giggling when Sora joined in the bouncing.

"Maybe! The owner is Kairi's uncle after all, so maybe she could help us ask!" Sora chirped, his excitement bubbling over when Riku shot him an appraising glance from his seat in the front. Suddenly, being separated from Riku for two hours while Leon drove them to the fish farm wasn't that intolerable. And being in the back seat with Selphie was fun! Even his boyfriend wasn't as chirpy when it came to 2-hour-long car rides. Riku was more of the motorcycle type, though he would never let Sora ride behind him for fear of getting into accidents.

Still, it was a really long ride…

" Leon, are we there yet? It's taking us forever to get there and I'm bored!" Sora whined, setting his chin on the shoulder of the driver's seat and tugging lightly on Leon's jacket.

"Would you two keep it down and let Leon concentrate on the road? It's dangerous to distract the driver!"

The only problem (or minor inconvenience as Sora would like to think) was that Tidus came from a long line of traffic police, and he was cautious almost to the point of being anal about road safety. As per his family teachings, Tidus pulled Selphie who had been sticking her head out the window back inside with a loud warning about losing her head had another car sped past theirs.

Riku snickered, and wondered what sort of havoc was Yuffie and Kairi wrecking on the other car with Aeris at the wheel, and if Wakka had passed out of a headache.

Luckily, all nine of them got to the fish farm safe and sound, though there had almost been an accident when Wakka's flailing arms had hit Aeris, nearly causing her to lose control of the car. Yuffie had to apologize profusely (albeit not really all that sincere) for strangling the poor boy with a choke-hold. The rest of them could only sigh, partially in relief and partially in response to the headaches that were setting in.

But thankfully, the fish farm wasn't all that bad. Kairi's uncle, Cid, was a friendly but foul-mouthed host who introduced the teenagers to his fish farm with a rather unique vocabulary and method.

"Alright, now you four, move those #&# crates to the other side!"

Cid was the type of host who liked making laborers out of visitors, his own niece included. No one seemed to really mind though, seeing that it was a new experience for the bunch of city kids. Sora and Selphie were the most energetic, running everywhere to get their assigned tasks completed despite the fact that Cid yelled at them most often to stop running or risk slipping on the wet ground and falling into the pools of fishes.

"I don't understand how those two can run in a place like this!" Tidus said incredulously when he noticed Sora and Selphie running about at the other side of the fish farm. He gave the platform he was standing on a cautious slide of his foot, and yelped when he nearly slipped.

"It's because they are Sora and Selphie," Riku remarked offhandedly as he adjusted the weight of the crates in his arms. "They wouldn't be themselves if they didn't get excited enough to run about in a place like this. They'll be fine." He walked away to elsewhere to deposit the crates.

"Sill, it's a miracle they don't slip and fall. We /are/ walking around on narrow platforms around the fish ponds, after all," Aeris added. She peered around the fish farm, which consisted only of two small houses for residence and work, and a whole lot of platforms crisscrossing across the edge of the sea. Nets at the bottom of the multitude of fish ponds prevented the fishes from escaping and also acted as protection against big predators and greedy fellows who wanted a bit of the fish feed Cid gave them twice a day. The platforms were the most slippery parts of the fish farm, and were made of a few planks tied together with some hardy string.

"By the way, where're the others?"

"Sora and Selphie are still running about doing I don't know what, Kairi and Wakka are in the house helping out with lunch, and Leon's there, all alone by his lonely self," Yuffie replied, pointing at the lone figure who was standing at the edge of the farm. " Leon was avoiding the fishes, so Cid made him feed them all. By himself." She sniggered evilly, and the rest who was around soon joined in.

The mental images of Leon-ice-prince-of-Destiny-High-Loire avoiding fishes like the plague were amusing to say the least. It was as amusing as the sight of their school's biology teacher, Captain Hook (he insisted on being called captain), scampering for cover whenever he heard a clock ticking too loudly and yelling that the blasted crocodile was coming back to eat his remaining hand. Rumours went that Hook had once tried to use a croc for an experiment, and the angry croc had bitten off his right hand for that, which explained the metal hook there.

Yuffie raised a conspiring eyebrow, and hushing the others, snuck off to Leon's side. Leon was too occupied with feeding the fishes as far as he could to notice the black-haired prankster coming in his direction. Aeris and Tidus stifled their chuckles as Yuffie got closer and closer, and suddenly, there was a loud yell, a flail of arms and a huge splash.

While the three laughed at their successful prank, the others were attracted by the splash. Riku was the first to reach them, closely followed by Sora and Selphie.

"What happened? Did someone fall into the water?"

"What's that sound?"

"Where's Leon?"

"Yuffie, what did you do!?"

The black-haired girl stuck out her tongue and waved the questions off with a smile. She said, "Nothing much, just pushed little Leon into the pond for an up-close and personal date with a couple of fishes. I'm sure he'll be up in a minute screaming at us."

Riku felt his heart still, and before he knew it, his hands were clasping Yuffie's shoulders in an iron grip and shaking her furiously.

"Riku! Let me go! You're hurting me!"

"Are you crazy!? Leon can't swim! He hates the water!" Riku yelled, still shaking her senseless.

Yuffie gasped. "What!? Leon can't swim!? You've got to be kidding me! How can Leon not know how to swim!? He's so good in sports!"

"He's good at all sorts of things /but/ swimming!"

"Riku, let her go! Now's not the time to argue! We have to save Leon!" Sora yelled, hurriedly prying his boyfriend's hands off Yuffie.

Sora's words seemed to awaken Riku, and he quickly let go, ignoring Yuffie's startled yells and the fresh imprints his hold had left on her arms. Instead, he turned back to the water, his eyes scanning the waters rapidly for a sign of his brother.

"Where is he!? Leon!"

Selphie was already on the verge of tears, and Tidus had to hold her close and murmur words of consolation softly.

"Where is he?"

"I can't see him anywhere!"

"He must have fallen into the open ocean instead! Quick, someone find him!"

"No Riku! You can't go after Leon like this! The water's too rough to swim through!"

"Let me go! Leon!"

" Leon! Answer us! Where are you?"

"Someone go get help! Get a boat or something! Quick! Leon might have been swept out to the open sea!"

" Leon!"

" Leon!"

* * *

Leon sighed inwardly, tossing another fistful of fish feed into the ponds. Just because he had avoided being too close to the edge of the water, that sadistic Cid decided to force him to 'face his fears' and feed the fishes. Whoever said he was scared of a few creatures that couldn't even live out of water was an idiot. A terrible, terrible idiot, in fact. Just like the swarm of idiotic fishes that was jumping, flipping and squeezing their way everywhere for a bit of food, only to see the fish feed float into another fish's gaping mouth.

Rolling his eyes, Leon tossed the last bit of feed he had to the fishes, and he turned around to face the vast ocean. Despite what others had told him often, especially the girls who were being nothing but romantic saps, the ocean was more dangerous than it was beautiful.

Perhaps he was being biased, but Leon had few good memories about huge bodies of water. But bad memories, he had more than enough to last a lifetime. In his mind's eyes, he could still see himself struggling in the lake, could still feel the weight of his clothes dragging him down, could still taste the spicy and choking sensation of water down his throat and in his mouth. And he could still remember the helplessness in the last few moments before he passed out.

Leon averted his gaze. The ocean was nothing but a gigantic grave.

Suddenly, he felt a force shoving him from behind and the next thing he knew, all he had just remembered, just seen, just felt, just tasted… all those memories were becoming reality again.

And then there was just… drifting.

* * *

Sephiroth and Zack had been put on guard duty again, Ariel was in singing lessons with her sisters and King Triton was listening in, and crabby little Sebastian was busy with his new orchestra… which meant that no one was going to notice if Cloud went missing for an hour or two. The blond merboy grinned, and after thanking Flounder the fish for all the information, he quickly swam off for a day by himself, something that was a rare occurrence and much treasured.

In a few moments, Cloud was out of Atlantica and swimming around the open ocean. The open ocean was one of his favourite best places to be when he wanted to relax; no one actually patrolled the area because it wasn't part of the mer-kingdom and so there was no rules or restrictions. Cloud stretched his body, sighing contentedly as he swam lazily in the warm waters.

"Ahhh… I just love it when the warm current comes," he sighed. "Too bad Ariel's not free today to enjoy this."

As soon as the words left his mouth, an idea hit him and he paused in mid swim, eyes blinking as realization dawned on him. No one was going to miss him today, not even Ariel whom he knew was going to be kept busy with her lessons since a performance was coming up soon. So even if he broke surface, no one was going to find out!

He grinned again. With a mighty propel of his tail, all that was left was a trail of bubbles as Cloud sped off for the sea shore where he knew the friendly seagulls would be. Those birds could update him on the latest juicy information about the land above the ocean! But he had to stay low first, and break surface only when he was in the shallow waters.

Just as he was approaching the shore, Cloud noticed a figure in the distance and he almost turn-tailed to escape. It was only when he noticed that the figure did not have a tail like he did, and therefore could not be a mer-guard patrolling, that Cloud stopped himself from swimming away. Instead, he squinted his eyes and tried to make out the figure better. When that did not work, he started to inch closer and closer.

"What is that? It doesn't have a tail… but its upper body looks so much like a merperson… and it doesn't seem to be swimming…" he mumbled, noting that the figure was actually sinking instead. Then suddenly, he remembered one of Ariel's collections: a statue of a human, she said. Humans didn't have tails, and instead, they had what she called 'legs' that could walk on land.

Couldn't humans swim with those… …'legs'? His human studies professors in school had mentioned something about humans being able to swim in the mid-depths with the aid of something they called frog suits and aqualungs, after all. Then again, a human ship had sunk a few months ago after colliding with a much larger ship, and its human occupants had struggled helplessly in the water until they seemed to give up and drowned. So perhaps humans couldn't survive for long in the water without the frog suits?

Gasping at the realization, Cloud quickly shot off to the figure. As he got closer, Cloud saw that the figure was indeed a human. A male human, in fact. Despite his fear for humans, Cloud grabbed the human's arms and hoisted him onto his back, quickly swimming upwards towards the surface.

Once they broke the surface, Cloud glanced around, his eyes lighting up at the sight of land. Good, no one was around to see him, and the shore wasn't too far off.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked the still figure on his back. No response. Cloud frowned; while the human could now breathe, he had probably already drunk a lot of water and was completely out.

"You humans are so troublesome…" Cloud muttered as he swam for the shore, the human in tow.

It wasn't long before they got up onto the sandy beach, and with more than a bit of effort, Cloud heaved the human onto dry land. He winced when the cool air hit his tail, prickling his scales. This was only his second time breaking the surface, and the first time he had actually gotten out of the water. Despite all the interesting things that might lurk up here in the human world, the air really didn't feel all that good, he thought. Ignoring his discomfort, Cloud turned back to the human who was lying on his back on the sand.

For the first time, the merboy got a good look at the human, and his eyes widened uncontrollably at the sight that greeted him. A blush crept up his face and he quickly averted his gaze, his face still burning and his mouth drying. Stealing another glance, Cloud thought that even the tips of his ears had burned up. He remembered a time when he had a crush on Sephiroth, and how his heartbeat would accelerate whenever the silver-tailed merman came close to him, but now… Cloud thought his heart had stopped beating.

Clearly defined features, long brown hair, muscular but not too much… The human was gorgeous, breathtakingly so.

Cloud licked his suddenly dry lips unconsciously. But when he dared to raise his eyes to the human's face again, he nearly gasped when he noticed it had turned an ashen, sickly white. Anxiously, he tried to remember what Sephiroth and Zack had told him about the human body. Those two had studied it as part of their military studies on humans' weakness, and they had told Cloud about it for fun. Well, maybe Zack had been too amazed at how weak humans were physically and just wanted someone to agree with him, since Sephiroth wouldn't do so out loud. They would probably never know that the information was going to let Cloud save a human, if he succeeded.

Taking in a deep breath, Cloud put his hands to the human's stomach, almost wincing when he thought he could hear water inside. The human must have drunk a /lot/ of sea water. Now, how was he going to extract all that water? Worse, was the human even going to survive until Cloud figured out /how/ to go about doing that? At that moment, a fragment of memory, a conversation among Zack, Sephiroth and himself after the two had returned from one of their military classes, surfaced in his mind.

_"Hey Cloud, guess what we learnt in class today?" _

_"What?" _

_"You know our pearl? The one that all merpeople have inside their bodies since birth? The one that's our essence made tangible?" _

_"So what of it?" _

_"The commander said that it's got healing properties!" _

_"Yeah I know that. Basically that's why humans hunted us in the past when they knew we existed, remember?" _

_"Oh yeah…" _

_"Face it, Zack. Cloud paid attention in school, unlike a certain blue-tailed merman whose name shall remain unspoken but starts with the letter 'Z' anyway…" _

_"Shut it, Seph!" _

Cloud frowned, biting his lower lip. His hand settled over his belly, where he could feel the constant warmth his pearl emitted. The human needed his pearl. There was no other way he could think of to save the human, and judging by the human's face that was turning paler with every passing moment, Cloud was sure the human wasn't going to make it long enough for him to come up with another plan. Right, his pearl then.

At that realization, he blushed again. The pearls couldn't be exposed to the air for fear of contamination or the likes, so the only way to pass his pearl to the human was… mouth-to-mouth? But Cloud had never kissed anyone before! Was his first kiss going to be shared with a stranger? And a human, no less! Hesitantly, he snuck a glance at the handsome human again, and winced when he noticed the human's lips turning blue.

"I have to do this…" he muttered to himself like it was a holy mantra. "I have to save him…"

Calming himself with another deep breath, Cloud repositioned himself next to the human. Looking down at the ashen face, he muttered, "This is not a kiss."

But he found it almost impossible to convince himself that it wasn't a kiss when his gaze fell upon the human he had just rescued from a watery grave. Not when the man, lying still and unconscious on the beach, still looked so handsome and kissable despite being near death. And he was going to die if Cloud didn't do something soon.

Cloud cupped the human's cheek, gently stroking the stray strands of brown hair that had gotten into his face. He was devastatingly handsome even with the scar on his face, and Cloud could feel his heart pounding desperately as his face burned up.

It wouldn't be a kiss. No, technically it wouldn't be. He was just trying to save the other man, to breathe some fresh air into him. So it would just be a chaste touching of their lips. Nothing more than that. If only he could convince his heart to stop pounding so hard.

Hesitantly, Cloud lowered his lips, but stopped again when their lips were just breaths apart.

"This is not a kiss," he whispered to himself once more before pressing their lips together.

A warm, bubbling sensation started brewing in his belly, traveling to his throat, and then his mouth. For a moment, Cloud could feel his pearl on his tongue, warming it, caressing it. It was almost too intimate to be real. Then, it left his mouth, and Cloud had to bite back a moan when his pearl entered the human's mouth. Finally, the process was over.

The blond merboy panted a little when their lips parted, and he quickly held a hand over the human's mouth in case his pearl didn't go down. But he had to let go almost immediately when the human coughed, spitting out some water before falling back limply onto the sand. And he started to breathe again, his chest rising and falling.

Cloud's frown broke into a smile. Slowly, he reached out to cup the human's face, gently caressing his cheek. For a while, he just sat there, letting the sun beat down on them and the sea breeze whisper against their skin as he continued to gaze at the human. Behind those closed lids, Cloud wondered, what was the colour of the human's eyes? Blue? Brown?

He was rewarded with a peek when the human shivered as a particularly strong breeze blew across the beach, and he opened his eyes. Cloud gasped and nearly sprung away, but when he noticed how unfocused the human's eyes were, he gave into his inner desires and stayed where he was. Gazed deep into the human's eyes, a smile blossomed across his lips. They were grey. The human's eyes were grey. A very beautiful and rare colour for someone's eyes, but Cloud thought it suited the human perfectly.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" he couldn't help but whispered, reaching out to brush away an errant lock of brown hair.

The human seemed to have heard the whisper, and his lips trembled as though trying to speak, but all he managed was a soft groan. Then, his eyes fluttered shut again.

" Leon! Are you here! Answer us!"

" Leon!"

" Leon!"

Cloud's head snapped up at those shouts, and he panicked. Quickly, he pulled himself back into the waters and swam behind a large rock.

* * *

They had been looking for at least an hour already, and there was still no sign on Leon. Sora bit back a sniffle. Cid had led the group of teenagers to a stretch of beach where he said the waves would probably bring Leon to, but the beach was good three kilometers. How were they going to find Leon in time to save him?

Then, his eyes drifted to a silent corner and they widened.

" Leon! Look guys, he's there!" Sora yelled, quickly running over to his friend.

His yells got the attention of everyone else in a split second, and before long, they were all running towards him.

"Oh my god!"

"Finally!"

"I said the waves would bring him here, didn't I? He's lucky though… the last time my # underwear fell into the sea, I searched here for hours and never found it…"

"Uncle Cid!"

Riku was the first to get to his brother.

" Leon!" he exclaimed almost scratchily, his voice having taken a toll from shouting for his brother for the past hour. Hastily, he reached for a pulse. He thought he was going to pass out from relief when he found one, and heard Leon's harsh breathing. Still, it was safer to get his brother to a hospital.

"Where's the nearest hospital!? We need to get him there now!"

"I'll go get the car ready!" Aeris replied, running off without another word.

"Riku, you carry his arms! I'll carry his legs! And help us, Wakka!" Tidus snapped.

"Just # pass him to me, you wusses!" Cid barked, hoisting Leon onto his back. Tidus and Wakka stayed behind him, in case the older man lost his grip on their friend. But there seemed to be little to be worried about when Cid ran for the car at a speed most would not associate with someone of his age.

Yuffie 'eeped' and hollered for everyone to get into the car.

In a few minutes, they were gone.

Only when the noises subsided did Cloud dare to peek over the rock he was hiding behind. Slowly, he slid back into the water.

" Leon? Is that your name?" he murmured, testing how the word felt on his lips. He liked it.

Although he was probably going to see Leon again, he had at least saved him. With a contented shrug, Cloud dived into the sea, ready to return home. He had been out for too long already, anyway.

However, when he was about fifty meters into the water, he felt an invisible force forcing him back, and his breathing felt laboured, something that had never happened before. Anxious, Cloud broke surface again to catch his breath. Something wasn't right. He was a merboy, for god's sake! Why was it so difficult to breath in the water all of a sudden? He tried to dive again, but the results were the same: something was keeping him away from the deeper parts of the ocean.

Uneasily, he tried to remember what the lecturers in school had taught them about their pearls, but nothing came up. Instead, a stray sentence from Sephiroth, a continuation of the conversation he had remembered earlier, hit his mind.

_"It is true that our pearls have healing properties, but don't ever try to use it on someone else, Cloud." _

_"But why, Sephiroth? Why can't we use it on someone else?" _

_"Because to use it on someone else, you'd have to pass your pearl to him. And when you lose your pearl…" _

_"…You can't dive back into the ocean or return to Atlantica because our pearl is what gives us the ability to breathe smoothly in the water and also what controls our weight to help us sink! Otherwise, the water pressure would crush us at this depth. Heh heh, betcha didn't think I'd know that, eh?" _

_"I must say I'm impressed, Zack. You did pay some attention in class after all." _

_"Of course! What can I say? I only fall asleep in school because what the teachers were teaching was too easy." _

_"Zack, just because I praised you for once, don't inflate your ego too much or you'd displace the ocean." _

_"Seph!" _

As the memory of the conversation ended with laughs in Cloud's head, Cloud was going to do anything but laugh. In fact, he thought he was going to scream. Or faint. Or drown himself. Not particularly in that order.

His pearl was with Leon! The only thing that let him get home to Atlantica was with a human! A human who was currently miles away from the ocean!

"Great… now what am I going to do?"

-tbc-


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Ocean eyes part 2

Author: Sorceress Fantasia

Pairings: LxC, RxS, some other minor ones

Warnings: AU, romance, sap, humour, OOC-ness

Archive: Finally As much as I would love to lay claim to Cloud, I'm kinda scared of Leon's gunblade. So well, I don't own Kingdom Hearts and its character, and neither do I own the various Final Fantasies and their characters. I don't own the movie that this fic is adapted from. Chapter last revised 25 Jun 07.

Summary: After a wayward merboy, Cloud, saves a drowning high school student by the name of Leon, he revives the human at the cost of losing the ability to return to the ocean palace. So, what's a merboy to do? Based on an old HK movie.

* * *

A warm breeze whispered across the ocean, but Cloud was feeling anything but warm. In fact, he thought the tip of his tail was so cold it was actually starting to numb.

His pearl was gone. His god damn pearl was gone! And the worst part? He had given it to a human!

Cloud could just see himself skewered on the king's trident, nephew or not. No, it was precisely he was the king's only nephew that he would be skewered; his uncle was always especially harsh on family, whom he believed should set the role model for the citizens to follow. And despite knowing that it was against their laws to break surface /and/ make contact with humans, Cloud had done so. Two more reasons for the skewering that was bound to come now.

As the blond merboy was imagining how it would feel like to die that way, he heard a particularly loud 'squawk!' and he looked up. He broke into a relieved smile when he noticed it was a bunch of seagulls circling lazily above, and Cloud waved excitedly. Perhaps they could help him with his problems, with their knowledge of the human world and their ability to travel deep into human civilization. Luckily, one of them flew down, landing on a nearby rock.

"Hi kid! What are you doing up here? I thought your king made it law that you aren't supposed to break the surface?" the seagull asked as he folded his wings neatly behind him. Looking at Cloud through narrowed eyes, he added, "You're one of those merpeople who can't help but break rules, aren't you?"

Cloud at least had the decency to bow his head.

"Ah, but it's a good thing too. I haven't seen a merboy in ages! Mermaids I've met, but merboys," –he shook his head- "you must be the first in years!"

The blond merboy raised an eyebrow. So there were other rule-breakers apart from himself? And there were more mermaids than merboys? Gee, the guys were getting soft…

Unaware of Cloud's internal musings, the seagull continued to yak away happily. "And I can't even remember when the last time I met Ariel was… Was it months ago? Or was it weeks ago?" - he scratched his chin thoughtfully- "Can't really be sure nowadays. My memory must be going. Well, the other birds did say age was catching up with me… but I didn't think it would be so soon."

As the bird went on to lament on his lack of memory and age, not a squawk got into Cloud's head. In fact, he had stopped listening the moment Ariel's name had slipped out of the bird's beak.

"Wait! Ariel! You know Ariel!?"

"Why of course… that girl has come up to the surface before, and I happened to be in the area. She kept asking me about human stuff," he replied with a shrug, as though uncaring that the princess was a rule-breaker as well. "By the way, if you ever see her, please tell her that the thing she showed me last time, the one that I told her was a dinglehopper… Humans use it to eat, not comb their hair. I was just kidding, but I think she took me very seriously."

Cloud bit his bottom lip. If this bird was Ariel's friend, maybe he wouldn't mind extending a wing and help out a little. And even though the bird seemed a little scatterbrain, he was probably Cloud's only source of help now. So against his better judgment, Cloud decided to ask for some advice.

"Actually, I'm Ariel's cousin. She's got singing lessons today with her sisters, so she couldn't come up here with me today. Name's Cloud."

A hint of recognition settled into the bird's eyes and he grinned. "Ah, so you're Cloud. Ariel's told me about you. Said you had the most beautiful eyes ever. The exact shade of the skies, she said. Hmm," –he peered into Cloud's blue eyes, ignoring the blond's discomfort at the intense scrutiny- "She is right. You do have eyes the colour of the skies. Very pretty."

"Erm, thanks." Cloud blushed and fidgeted. He wasn't too sure how to handle praises about his looks, being long used to being ignored by the mermaids in favour of Zack and Sephiroth. The girls 'woo-ed' and 'ahh-ed' over their tails, over their eyes, over their hair, but seldom had any girl paid much attention to Cloud.

"You're welcome." The bird winked. "Say, if you could, please say 'hello' to Ariel for me. I haven't seen the girl in ages!"

"Sure, I'll tell her that once I get back. But you know, I kinda have a problem here…"

The bird puffed his chest. "Just say it, and I bet I can provide you with a solution! The other birds don't call me a genius for nothing!"

A genius for bragging, Cloud thought with amusement. "Well, how do I address you?"

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself? Excuse my lack of manners, young one. Anyway, you can just call me Scuttle! So what's the problem you're facing? Is there a human artifact that you can't identify? Or is there a human artifact that you want to see? I can just fly around nearby and see if I can pick one up for you. Humans love to leave their things lying around. I don't know why, but they just do it."

Wasn't that akin to stealing? Cloud was half-tempted to voice out his concern, but at the sight of the joyously proud bird, he couldn't bring himself to dampen his spirits. It generally wasn't a good idea to offend someone when he was the one asking for favours, too. So he merely offered a faint smile.

"Well you see, my pearl… You do know what that is, don't you?"

"From what I've heard around, it's something that gives your people the ability to stay in Atlantica."

Not quite, but Cloud wasn't about to correct Scuttle on that. "I kinda lost my pearl, so I can't get home now. You think you can help me get it back?"

Scuttle gasped. "How in the world did you lose it!? Ariel said that the pearl was supposed to be inside your body! Did you eat something that didn't agree with your stomach and barfed it out?"

"No!"

"Then how did you lose it?"

Cloud laughed nervously. Was he really going to tell this loose-beaked bird? What if the big mouth told his friends about the stupid merboy who'd lost his pearl to a human –a human!- and couldn't go home? And then, the news would travel to a school of fishes, who would then exchange gossips with another school of fishes, and then bam! Good lord! King Triton hears it from crabby old Sebastian. Then where would Cloud be?

The image of himself skewered on his uncle's trident was still fresh on his mind. Still, if he did not ask Scuttle for help, he was going to have to stay near the coast for god knows how long until his friends discovered he was missing. And once they found him pearl-less and stranded, King Triton was still going to find out stupid little Cloud had lost his pearl to a human.

After a moment of contemplation, Cloud decided he was going to pick the lesser of two evils and just ask for help.

"Well… you see, a human was drowning, and then I saved him. Yeah, I saved him. Then… erm… See, the human had been in the water for a very long time, so I did only thing I could to save him." So far, so good. Now came the hard part. "So I gave him my pearl." There. Saying it out loud wasn't as difficult as Cloud had thought.

Cloud's heart sank just as fast as how Scuttle's jaws dropped. The bird choked several times, like words were clamouring up his throat but unable to get out, and he flailed his wings as he jumped up and down on the rock. "How… How… How did that happen!?" Then Scuttle seemed to realize that that part of the problem had already been answered earlier, and he waved it off. "No, I mean… why? Why did you give it to a human?"

Now that was an interesting question, and a question Cloud had no answer to if he wanted to keep his dignity and reputation. Honestly, what would others think of him if they knew the reason Cloud gave up his pearl to a human was because he thought the human was handsome to no ends?

"I… just wanted to save him," Cloud answered carefully. "But that's not the issue here! I need to get it back! Can you help me with that?"

Scuttle raised an eyebrow. "Your pearl is currently /inside/ a human's body, isn't it? How do you expect me to get it back? Peck at him, open a hole, and grab it in my beak?"

Cloud winced, sinking a little more into the water.

"And from what I know, the pearl will stay inside his body almost like it's not there physically. So it's not like I can find it in his toilet bowl or something. Not that I would actually dig in there, of course." Scuttle's feathers bristled indignantly.

Cloud sank deeper into the water. He was about to sink like a rock (much like how his heart was feeling at the moment) into the sea when something Scuttle was rambling on caught his attention, and he immediately shot up.

"So now the only way to solve this problem is for you to come ashore and get it back yourself. I can help you get some clothes. Like I said, humans like to leave their things lying around, clothes included. I've no idea why they hang it on lines though…"

That was it! All Cloud had to do, was to go ashore! He absently wondered why that idea hadn't come to him sooner, and he guessed it was due to the incessant drilling and lecturing of how merpeople were not meant to live on the land surface by his elders. But now, there was no way around it. Cloud was going to have to go ashore, grab his pearl, and return as quickly as possible. Preferably before the whole of Atlantica found him missing and launched various rescue missions across all the oceans.

"You know, Scuttle? That was the best idea you've given me in this entire conversation!"

The bird beamed proudly, fluffing up his feathers. "So you want some clothes?"

"Yes please!"

"Wait here for me then. I'll go get you some right away!" Scuttle took off quickly, heading in the general direction of some human residences.

As soon as Scuttle was out of his sight, Cloud immediately scoured the area for any traces of human existence. He peered right, peered left, peered in front, peered behind, peered everywhere possible on his rattled nerves, and when he finally decided that there was no human around, he took a deep breath. Steeling his determination, Cloud swam for the area where he had dragged Leon onto earlier and heaved himself onto the sand again. Quickly, he tried to flick as much water off his tail as possible and hoped that the bright sun that day would help.

Theoretically, if Cloud could get his tail to be completely dry, they would transform into a pair of human legs, the very same type that had allowed his father to walk on the land. That man was, after all, a human, and Cloud was his only child. It was a wild and forbidden affair, really, between a human male and a mermaid, and it had only ended in tragedy. They were forced to separate, and Cloud never heard from his father again. His mother wasted away after giving birth to him, and Cloud was entrusted to his uncle, King Triton. He never really knew his parents.

Shaking those morose thoughts away, Cloud concentrated on drying his tail and planning his next course of action. He would have to walk around the human territory, and hopefully find Leon and his pearl. Then, he would get his pearl back and return home to Atlantica. It was going to be a risky adventure, but it was one Cloud had to complete by himself.

"If those lecturers at school ask me about it, I'll just tell them I went on an immersion trip to further my studies," he muttered half-heartedly, and waited for Scuttle to return with some clothes. His tail would dry soon.

* * *

_Blue… Ocean blue…Ocean blue eyes… _

For a short while, Leon had believed those eyes were the colour of the sky. Clear blue, free and boundless. And the hair was golden, just like the sun. It only seemed sensible to link those eyes to the colour of the sky.

But when Leon really thought hard about those eyes when he tried to place who their owners were, he discovered that they weren't the colour of the sky at all.

They were not boundless and free enough to be the sky. It was just a hint (or maybe Leon wasn't conscious enough then), but there had been a measure of concern and fear in those blue eyes. Mysterious, fearful, and restricted to some extent.

So they were like the ocean. Ocean eyes.

And Leon still had no idea who those eyes belonged to. According to all his friends who had found him lying wet on the beach, none of them saw anybody else around. The doctors at the hospital couldn't explain why Leon seemed to be completely fine either, when the brunet had been in the water for quite a long time. The only logical explanation was that someone had saved him before his friends came, and perhaps even gave him mouth-to-mouth.

Just who was it? Selphie had cheekily teased Leon for not knowing who he had quite possibly lost a kiss to, for the person could be a hottie for all they knew.

Leon had to fight to keep down his blush, because for some reasons, he had a vague image of a very beautiful blond hovering over him, looking at him with those ocean eyes. Leon had seen only a silhouette, a blurred image with only the hair and eyes striking his vision, but somehow, he just knew the person was beautiful. It was a gut feeling. Besides, the person had a soft, soothing voice to match.

_"You're beautiful, you know that?" _

If it were anybody else, the brunet would have felt indignant, and retorted heatedly that he was a man, and a man could only be handsome, never beautiful.

But somehow, that voice… Leon didn't feel too bad about it. In fact, if he were to be honest, he liked it. That voice had been sincere and in awe, and whatever he or she had said was secondary.

Leon had wanted to ask the person who he or she was, but he just couldn't hold on to his consciousness. He sighed.

"Hey Leon, are you alright? Why aren't you eating?" a soft voice to his right asked, and Leon was yanked out his daydream and memories. It was Aeris, and the girl was looking at him worriedly. Then Leon noticed that she wasn't the only one. All of his friends had stopped eating their lunch and were staring at him with a mix of worry and concern.

"I'm fine." As if to prove his point, Leon bit into his sandwich. He had no appetite for anything else.

" Leon, are you still mad at me? I'm sorry! If I had known that you couldn't swim, I never would have done that!" Yuffie wailed.

Leon furrowed his brows, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. This was… what? The eighteenth, nineteenth time that the normally spunky girl had randomly burst into wails of apologies? Actually, he had long lost count, even though it had only been two days since she started. "Yuffie, I'm fine."

She continued to sniffle.

"You know, I'm still wondering. Who do you guys think saved Leon anyway? And the person didn't even stay around to call an ambulance or something. Don't you guys think it's strange? I mean, it's not like the person robbed Leon or something," Kairi said quickly in an attempt to change the topic. She didn't miss the grateful glance Leon sent her way, and she smiled.

Luckily, everyone else caught onto Kairi's efforts as well.

"Maybe the person heard us coming and ran off?" Tidus shrugged.

"But what for? It's not like we'd mob them or something! In fact, we would thank them for saving Leon! And maybe we'd even give them a reward!" Selphie said, before she stuffed the last of her lunch into her mouth.

"Well, you would…" Riku mumbled under his breath, and an unbidden image of an over-excited Selphie mobbing the poor person, shaking the person's hand and almost ripping the poor hand off. He had once witnessed Selphie in a state of over-excitement, and it wasn't pretty. Riku still couldn't think of that incident without shivering.

"Maybe they just decided it was better to let us handle it. We're Leon's friends, yeah?"

"Hey Leon, did you see them?"

If it had been anyone else who asked that question, Leon would have rolled his eyes and snapped. Everyone had asked him that same question so many times he was getting sick of answering it. But it was Sora, and so Leon resigned himself to answering nicely. Or as nicely as he could manage.

"I only saw blue eyes and golden hair. Nothing else."

"But that's such a common combination of hair and eye colour. We'll never find them at this rate!"

That struck a chord with Leon, and the brunet sighed. He wanted to meet the person, wanted to know who the person was, wanted to thank the person. But he was probably never going to see the person again.

* * *

Cloud tugged on his jeans again, worried that they were going to fall off and give everyone a good eyeful of his tail. Correction, human legs, as Scuttle had told him. How did humans deal with wearing all these… stuff? When Scuttle had returned with a full wardrobe (with some help from his sea gull pals), Cloud had tried to talk his way out of wearing everything. Pants to cover his new legs were enough, he said. Merboys never wore anything to cover their chests.

But Scuttle had insisted that Cloud wore everything he had his pals had taken the utmost effort to bring back for him. They had even tried to pick out stuff they thought would look good on the blond, he claimed. And no decent man would want to go topless in a city, especially someone as attractive as Cloud, for there were extremely desperate single men and women who would pounce on him the moment they saw the blond eye candy.

So Cloud wisely accepted the white shirt. But the shoes he tried to decline again. Cloud could not understand why humans liked to torture themselves by wearing such restricting contraptions on their feet.

Scuttle had shrugged, and said quite nonchalantly that humans just loved making things difficult for themselves.

In the end, Cloud wore the shoes as well, and had one hell of a time learning how to walk in those damned things. As if walking without shoes was not difficult enough…

However, once Cloud had gotten into the human city, he started to appreciate Scuttle's advice. From the stares and drools he had garnered since walking down the human… -it's called streets, Scuttle had shrieked into his ears- streets, Cloud wondered if the humans would really pounce on him if he had refused to wear the shirt. At first, he thought that the humans could recognize him as a merboy and were going to abduct him for some experiment. For some reasons Cloud couldn't explain, he had the mental image of a mentally deranged human male in a white coat reading statistics off his checklist while Cloud floated in some sort of weird liquid inside a glass tube. For more reasons he couldn't explain or understand, Cloud thought he saw Zack floating in another tube beside him.

Anyway, Cloud was almost ready to bolt off and scream for help when he noticed that the humans were staring at his butt, the same way the mermaids always stared longingly at Sephiroth and Zack's tails. With that boost in ego, he figured he was pretty safe except for maybe a few lechers or the likes, and continued along his way. Seriously, it felt good to be appreciated after being ignored by the mermaids in favour of his two handsome friends.

Resisting the urge to blush, Cloud forced himself to concentrate on locating his pearl. He could already feel its faint humming around the area, almost summoning him to its side. Cloud clutched his chest instinctively. It was a strange sensation, the emptiness in his body due to the missing presence of his pearl, his essence. It was much like a void in his soul, something he could survive but couldn't truly live with. However, the emptiness receded a little when he remembered the indescribable sensations that had coursed through his veins, awakened every cell and nerve in his body, the moment when he had kissed Leon…

Cloud took in a sharp breath, and quickly shook his head. That wasn't a kiss. That was only a chaste touching of lips, and Cloud had done so only to save Leon. There was nothing more to it. Still, Cloud couldn't deny how liberating it had felt to… kiss the human. Unconsciously, he brought a hand to his lips, blushing faintly as he recalled the softness of the other's lips.

Then, as quickly as that thought had come to him, Cloud stomped it down. He had come ashore to retrieve his pearl, not act like some lovesick child! And he had to return to Atlantica as soon as he recovered his pearl, so there was no chance of anything happening between him and Leon. Right… he had to return home soon. There was a sudden ache in his heart and he faltered in his steps for a moment, but he ignored it and quickly turned down the street where he felt his pearl was.

"Ariel, Seph and Zack are all waiting for me at home... I have to do this quickly and go back to them…" he muttered as though a chant, like he was trying to convince himself.

Despite all his efforts, however, Cloud could not squish the excitement and anticipation bubbling within him when he thought of the kiss he'd have to share with Leon again to get his pearl back.

While Cloud was still traveling towards his destination and coming up with plans to get to know Leon (after all, he didn't think it was okay for him to run up to Leon, kiss him and run off), something was brewing below Leon, Riku and Sora's apartments. Something that would give Cloud the perfect opportunity to make good on his immersion studies.

* * *

"C'mon, Kumo! You don't want to live in some relative's house just 'cause your parents died! You don't even know these people!" a man yelled, running a careless hand through his already mussed up hair. He sighed when his companion looked away and clutched his bag even closer. "Kumo, listen to me. Forget about this life. You're not meant to be a quiet little kid living in a quiet little town. And if you walk up this apartment block now, you'll never escape this mundane life. Kumo, don't you remember how fun it had been? Just you and me, roaring down the roads, the wind blowing into our faces, eating my horrible road-kill cooking and sleeping under the stars? We had nothing to our names then, but we had each other. Isn't that enough?"

Kumo sighed, looking at the photo his relatives had sent him. "But they're my only relatives now. They're all I have left."

"That's not true! You still have me!"

"Silver…"

"Please, Kumo. Come with me! Leave this life behind you!"

They gazed into each other's eyes, and in that instance, Kumo made his decision. He nodded slowly.

"Kay," he whispered. "Promise to take care of me forever?"

"I promise." Silver's eyes spelt nothing but determination to fulfill that promise.

Kumo smiled, the first in days since his parents had died. He threw his bag, the very same one he had been desperately clutching to his chest earlier, onto the ground, along with the photo of his relatives. It was his way of showing Silver his determination in leaving this life behind. When they left, he would have nothing left of his old life, and he would start a new one with Silver, and only Silver.

Seeing that he had finally gotten through to Kumo, Silver grinned and nodded towards his motorbike. Kumo needed no further encouragement. Minutes later, the only evidence of them ever being in the area was the abandoned bag and photograph.

By the time Cloud turned around the corner, there was only a trail of dust the bike had kicked up for him to choke on. Blinking to clear the dust, the blond strolled over to Kumo's abandoned belongings in disbelief. So Scuttle was right? Humans really left their things everywhere for others to pick up? This human trait was so strange, he thought. As a merboy, Cloud had been taught to treasure his belongings and store them well, since some things were liable to floating away if one didn't pay attention.

So with a frown, he was about to bend down to pick up the bag when he noticed the photo lying on top, and he picked that up first. It was a family shot, he guessed, especially since the boy's features seemed to be a mix of the couple's. The mother's brown hair and smile, and the father's blue eyes and spiky hairdo. Cloud frowned. Those blue eyes looked eerily like his own, not to mention the boy's spiky hairdo. He wondered if the spikiness was natural, like his own. Absently, he tugged a lock of his spike down to his eye-level, sighing when it quickly sprung back when he let go. Yup, definitely natural.

Just when Cloud was wondering what to do with the bag and the photo, he heard footsteps coming towards him and then someone was talking to him. Cloud quickly spun around, his eyes widening when he noticed it was the boy in the photo.

"Hey, do you need some help? You look kinda lost…" the boy asked, walking closer as he talked.

Unsure of what to do, Cloud just regarded him curiously. Then an idea came to him. Maybe this boy would know who the luggage and photo belonged to, or maybe the stuff belonged to the boy! Right, so Cloud just had to hand the stuff over and he could go on his way and continue his search for Leon! So he held out the things, and was about to tell the boy to not leave the things around again when the boy jumped onto him with a gleeful cry.

"Kumo! You're here!"

It was lucky the boy wasn't too heavy, or Cloud might have lost his precious little balance and toppled over. He still wasn't very comfortable with his legs. "Wha…?"

"I'm Sora, your cousin! Dad and mum have been waiting anxiously for you all week long! Man, we almost thought you'd gotten lost or something! And mum was about to drive all the way to Hollow Bastion to find you! They'll be so happy to see you now. Really! Luckily I decided to come home right after school, or I might have missed you!" Sora was talking a mile a minute, and Cloud wasn't sure he was registering everything. All he could be sure was that the boy had apparently mistaken him for someone else. His cousin, in fact. Maybe it was the spiky hair…

Cloud wanted to correct the boy that he wasn't that 'Kumo' person he was talking about, but he didn't manage to get a word in at all. Sora was still too excited and caught up with the moment that he couldn't see Cloud as anyone but his cousin.

"Oh, and Kumo, I want to introduce you to my friends! They're our neighbours too, since you'll be living with us from now on too!" Sora added with a beaming smile, and Cloud thought it was going to be cruel to tell him the truth. But he had to do it, since he wasn't Kumo, and he still had to find Leon and his pearl. Then, two people rounded the street corner, and Cloud thought his heart was going to stop.

"Riku! Leon! Come quick!" Sora called out to them. "Kumo's here! My cousin's here!"

The silver-haired boy –probably Riku, since Cloud recognized the other- gave a lazy grin, but he hastened his steps. Once he got close enough, he wrapped an arm around Sora's waist to pull him close. "Sora, how many times have I told you to wait up for us?" he admonished lightly, giving Sora a little nudge on the head that was more playful than angry. Then his voice dropped low to whisper into Sora's ears, to which Sora responded with a healthy blush and a mortified squeak that his cousin was around.

It was then Riku looked up, seemingly noticing Cloud for the first time. But Cloud could tell it was just an act. The boy reminded him of Sephiroth on several accounts, and apart from the obvious similarities on their outward appearances, another trait those two seemed to share was the obliviousness they liked faking to put others off-guard.

"Hi, I'm Riku, Sora's boyfriend. I guess you're the cousin he's been talking about all week long?"

Sora beat him to his answer.

"That's right! See? Kumo's got our photo! The one mum sent him!"

Cloud wasn't sure what else Sora said, for his attention had been instantly grappled away and his eyes glued to the tall brunet coming his way. The very one he had saved just a few days ago from a watery grave, dragged up to the sandy shore, and revived with a single kiss… Cloud quickly averted his gaze, fighting to keep his blush down. But it was so difficult to, when his mind summoned up the memories and would not let them dissipate. Leon's lips were so soft…

"Kumo? This is Leon! He's Riku's elder brother, and our neighbour too!" Sora chirped, unaware of Cloud's discomfort.

"Umm… Hi Leon, hi Riku," Cloud greeted with what he hoped wasn't a dreamy voice. When Riku's grin widened (what for, Cloud wondered), and Leon responded with a curt nod after a short hesitation, he smiled. While it was completely unintentional, the misunderstanding was providing Cloud with the perfect opportunity to get closer to Leon. And by doing so he would be able to get his pearl back soon, he hoped.

That was when Leon's gaze on him turned heated, and Cloud resisted the urge to fidget. Did Leon recognize him? Gods, it was only a second when Leon's eyes had opened that day on the beach. Could he recognize Cloud from that one second of a glance?

"Erm, is anything the matter?"

Thankfully, Leon only shrugged. "No," he answered curtly, and walked into the building. Riku and Sora followed him inside, but not before grabbing Cloud's hand and taking him along.

"Err, Sora? Where are we going?"

"To my house, of course! Oh wait, I mean our house now. We've cleared out this room just for you, Kumo! It's pretty big, so I think you'll like it! You just go take a look, and if you see anything you don't like, just tell us and we'll change it or something. Leon and Riku live just across us, so it'll be pretty easy. They helped us with your room too," Sora answered cheerfully as they waited for the elevator.

Leon was living so close by? Bonus! Cloud hoped his inward cheering wasn't showing on his face, and he snuck another glance at Leon. When Leon noticed his glance and looked up, Cloud quickly looked away to hide his blush and smirk. The brunet's gaze lingered on him for a long while, right until the elevator doors slid open with a soft swoosh.

As everyone packed into the elevator, neither noticed Riku's knowing grin.

* * *

The Utadas, as Cloud quickly found out, were an easily excited bunch of people who valued family ties very much. It was easily evident when Sora's parents, Keniichi and Aya, rushed home from work immediately when the boy called them at work to inform them that Cloud had finally arrived. The blond got his second clue when Aya pinched his cheeks and Keniichi pulled him into a bone-cracking bear hug when they were all introduced to one another. They both asked –no, demanded- that Cloud call them by their names, and fully respected Cloud's choice to be called Cloud instead of Kumo as well.

It was apparent that they valued hospitality as well, and Aya whipped up a sumptuous meal while Keniichi showed him around the house and helped him settle into his new room.

"Cloud? How's dinner?" Aya asked. "I made all my best dishes tonight, but it's been so long since I made all these! Do you like it?"

"Yes! It's delicious, all of it! Thank you so much, Aya." And there was not one ounce of flattery in his words, because it was truthfully the best dinner Cloud'd had in ages. Not to mention, it was the first real human meal he'd had since coming ashore. It was great; Cloud had long since gotten tired of eating seafood day in and day out.

Aya grinned widely. "Great to know someone appreciates my cooking! These two," –she pointed at Sora and Keniichi- "never say anything about my cooking anymore, and those two," –she pointed to Leon and Riku- "have probably gotten bored already. They have dinner with us at least three times a week!"

"I'll never get bored of your cooking, Aya! I just thought you'd feel my genuine gratitude if I just eat quietly," Riku teased, picking up another piece of the beef stir fry in front of him and chomping it down with great delight.

"Oh, enough of flattery, Riku! You know I'm letting Sora marry you even if you hate my cooking!" she returned in good humour, her eyes lighting up when Sora blushed happily and Riku sported a face-splitting grin.

Cloud blinked. Was Sora getting married already? His confusion must have been pretty obvious, because Keniichi just slapped his back with a laugh.

"Don't mind us, Cloud! We're just a noisy bunch, and Aya just loves teasing Riku and Sora. Those two have been joined by the hips since they were kids! Me and Aya have long accepted that Riku's gonna be our son-in-law someday. So what about you? Got a girlfriend or boyfriend you haven't introduced to us yet?"

"Erm… nope, none at all."

"Ah, no worries about that. I'm sure you'll find someone to settle down with soon enough. Introduce all your friends to Cloud, alright, Sora? Especially those from school."

While Sora and Riku assured Keniichi they'd sic everyone they knew on Cloud, Cloud risked a glance at Leon. The brunet was still eating his dinner quietly, his face a mask of indifference. Cloud thought Leon still looked as handsome as that day on the beach, even though Leon looked a lot sterner awake.

"Talking about school, we've already registered you into Sora's school last week. I called them on my way back, and they've assured me that you can start attending classes tomorrow. Or do you want to take tomorrow off, since you just arrived today and all…" Aya trailed off, waiting for answer.

"Oh, tomorrow's fine, I guess." The closer he could get to Leon, the better.

"That's settled then. Leon, would you do me a favour?"

The brunet looked up with a raised eyebrow.

"You're Cloud's age, so we requested that he be put in your class. We were hoping that you could show you around school. Is that alright with you?"

"I'm okay with it."

And that marked the end of Leon's involvement with the conversation at the dining table. While the others carried on with their colourful and rowdy jabs, teasing and witty comebacks, Leon remained solemn and ate his dinner quietly. But every once in a while, he would look up, gaze at Cloud, and look away again.

* * *

"You like him."

Leon did not look up from his book as he answered, "Who?"

"Cloud," Riku answered, flopping messily onto his brother's bed. He ignored Leon's scowl at ruining his otherwise perfectly neat bed. "There's no other reason why you'd look at him so much the whole night. Quite heatedly too, I might add. And Cloud kept gazing at you dreamily too. Aw, you two will make the perfect couple, the type who'll drag each other to the nearest closet available to make out while you're out of the house. Wonderful, isn't it?" He sniggered.

There was no reply for so long that Riku almost thought his brother had fallen asleep, or that Leon could not be bothered to reply, in which case there were only two possibilities: one, Riku's guess was correct, or two, Leon thought Riku's guess was too absurd to warrant an answer. He was wondering which one it was when Leon finally deigned him an answer.

"I just find him familiar."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "You've seen him before?"

"Maybe," - Leon slid a finger between his book to keep track of the page as he looked up- "I remember seeing that golden hair, and those eyes."

"I say Cloud's eyes are a very recognizable physical trait. No one has eyes that blue, not even Sora, and that's saying something. They remind me of the sky, you know?"

"…they remind me of the ocean."

At that, Riku sat up straight. "You think he's the one who saved you at the beach?"

Leon shrugged, but did not seem to entirely dismiss the possibility.

"But if Cloud's the one, don't you think he would have recognized you? Or maybe he's forgotten about you?"

"Maybe," Leon answered, but somehow, he didn't think so. The person who'd saved him had murmured tenderly while Leon was half-conscious, murmuring that he thought Leon was beautiful. If so, he must have given the person quite a lasting impression.

Cloud had the golden hair and blue eyes Leon remembered of his saviour, and that coupled with the blond constantly sneaking glances at him all night long like he was trying to be sure who Leon was, made it all seem probable that Cloud was the one. It really didn't help that Cloud was the cutest guy Leon had seen in a long time, so maybe Leon was inwardly hoping that Cloud was the one he'd been looking for.

And Leon was going to find out if that were the case, come hell or high water.

-tbc-

A/N: I just completed Kingdom Hearts 2 last month (the Japanese version, of course), but I promise no spoilers. After all, this is AU. But I may bring in some characters from KHII, simply because I like them. Still, they're probably not going to have major roles, and the limelight will always be shining on our dear Cloud and Leon.


End file.
